Learning from the best (whether you want to or not)
by Asexual Individual
Summary: Marinette is shocked when she receives a letter accepting her apprenticeship, even though she has no recollection of sending one out to anyone, and she's even more shocked when she finds that the apprenticeship is with famed fashion designer, Edna Mode. Just what does Edna Mode have in store for Marinette? (Oneshot)


**Learning from the best (whether you want to or not)**

 **I am one of those under the belief that Edna Mode has some sort of power that allows her to see the future for when designing her costumes, as she's able to design Jack-Jack's supersuit to fit his powers despite no one even knowing he had powers yet, among other instances. So, Edna having powers is the set up for this story.**

* * *

Marinette gave a heavy sigh as she slipped into her room through her window, as soon as she released her transformation she flopped onto her chaise, the latest Akuma attack had taken some effort.

"I ache everywhere." She complained.

"Maybe you should have a relaxing bath and then sleep." Tiki suggested.

"I wish." Marinette groaned. "But I have homework to do first."

Marinette reluctantly pried herself off her chaise and went over to her desk to start on her work. Before she could sit down she was surprised by a letter sitting on her desk that hadn't been there before she left to stop the Akuma.

"It's a bit late in the day for mail, and anything for me is usually left on the downstairs counter." Marinette said to herself.

Marinette picked up the letter and examined it, there was only her name and address on the front, no stamp or indication of who it was from. She opened it and pulled out a single letter.

"'Dear Miss Dupain-Cheng, we are happy to inform you that you have been accepted for an…internship?'" Marinette read. "But, I don't remember sending off any application. And I still have school, I can't do an internship yet."

"Who's it from?" Tiki asked.

Marinette scanned through the letter and let out a gasp when she saw who she was, supposedly, interning for.

"Edna Mode!"

Marinette couldn't believe it, Edna Mode was a huge fashion designer, known around the world for her bold designs, and was even more famous than Gabriel Agreste, it was even rumoured that she designed the costumes of heroes. And she had just recently come to France to work on her latest line. It was too good to be true.

"There's no way I could have landed an internship with the Edna Mode!" Marinette denied. "Especially one I know I didn't sign up for. This has got to be someone playing a cruel joke."

"But what if it isn't a joke and you really have been given an internship?" Tiki asked.

Marinette looked at the letter again and found a contact number for if she had any questions, for all she knew it could be a false number, so instead she went online to Edna Mode's official website to find a contact number instead, to her surprise when she found one it matched the one on the letter. She pulled out her phone and dialled the number.

After a few dials she heard the voice of an automated message.

" _You have reached Mode fashion's help desk, please wait for someone to take your call."_ The voice said, music then began playing.

Marinette waited for five minutes before setting her phone to the side and continuing on with doing her homework, over half an hour later she had just finished her work when someone finally answered her call.

" _Hello, Mode fashion help desk, how can I help?"_

"Um, yes, hello. I've just received a letter accepting me for an apprenticeship I didn't even sign up for, so I'm just calling to verify if it's real or someone's pulling a prank on me." Marinette told the person on the other end.

" _I see. May I have a name?"_

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

There was the sound of typing.

"I'm sorry, but-" The person was abruptly cut off by someone shouting.

" _Why don't you go paint your nails while I take care of this?"_ She heard someone else say.

" _Hello."_ The new voice answered the phone.

Marinette had to gasp when she heard the voice, it was unmistakably Edna Mode.

"Um…h-hello…" Marinette stuttered as she addressed one of her idols.

" _Speak up, darling, I can barely make out what you're saying."_

"I…um, got this letter for an internship and I don't think it's real."

" _Ah! It's understandable. Don't worry, Miss Dupain-Cheng, the letter is real."_

"How did-"

" _Your name was on the computer screen. I look forward to seeing you for your first day. Good bye now."_

"But, I didn't even…" The phone had hung up before Marinette could say anything.

Marinette dropped her phone on her desk and sat back in surprise, struggling to process what was happening. She had really just spoke to the Edna Mode, and she really had an apprenticeship with her; her, who was still a student who struggled to get to even get to class on time, had an apprenticeship with Edna Mode.

"Err, Marinettte?" Tiki waved her small hand in front of Marinette's face but got no response."

"It's real." Mainette said under her breath, as if speaking too loudly would reveal it all to be a dream.

"Yep." Tiki said happily. "Looks like you're well on your way to achieving your dream."

"But why me? I'm just a student. How did someone as famous as Edna Mode manage to spot a small a speck as me when there are so many out there?"

"I think you're selling yourself short, Marinette. You designed an album cover for Jagged Stone and won that derby hat competition."

Marinette stayed silent.

Tiki flew over to the letter and looked at the date Marinette was supposed to start her apprenticeship.

"Uh, Marinette. This says you start tomorrow." She said.

"What?"

Marinette picked up the letter and saw that she was indeed supposed to start tomorrow, right after school ended.

"But I don't have anything organised!" Marinette panicked. "What should I bring with me? What should I wear? I don't even know where I'm supposed to go yet!"

"Marinette, calm down." The Kwami told her.

"Marinette, is everything alright?" Her mum called from downstairs.

"You should go talk to them." Tiki told her.

Marinette nodded and headed downstairs to tell the news to her parents.

* * *

The next day Marinette found herself at the gate to a huge mansion, it had taken her a while to find the place. She pressed the buzzed of the call button.

"Can I help you?" A man appeared on a small screen above the call button.

"Uh, I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I have an apprenticeship with Madam Mode." Marinette said unsurely.

The man seemed to check something before the screen shut off and with a buzz the gate opened. Marinette followed the path up to the entrance where the front door was opened for her by the man from before, the man then guided her to some sort of lounge area where she was told to wait.

Marinette barely got any time to compose herself before the fashion designer herself appeared.

"Ah, Miss Dupain-Cheng, so nice to finally meet you in person." Edna greeted her.

Marinette nervously shook her hand.

"Now, let's get down to what your role here shall be." Edna walked off, motioning for Marinette to follow.

"Wait, Madam Mode." Marinette interrupted, following after her. "I meant to speak to you about that. How could I have gotten an apprenticeship with you when I didn't even apply?"

"That was me, darling." Edna admitted. "When I saw your designs I knew I had to have you before anyone else could take you and waste away your true potential."

"What designs?" Marinette was just getting more confused.

"That doesn't matter." Edna dismissed with a wave of her hand. "What matters is that I got you before the likes of Agreste." She spat out the name like it was a bad taste in her mouth.

"What's wrong with Mr Agreste?" Marinette asked with a frown.

"He has lost his spark. His designs hold no passion or creativity anymore. If you ended up working for him your potential would be squandered." There seemed to be more to it than that but Marinette decided not to ask.

So instead, Marinette addressed the other problem she had.

"Not that I'm flattered that you chose me of all people to be your apprentice, but I'm still in school. How could I possibly have enough time between that, homework, and…after school activities?" She substituted the last one for being Ladybug.

"Don't worry about that, darling, I will work around your schedule." Edna said.

"But my, uh, afterschool activities don't have a set time for when they happen or for how long they go on for."

Edna stopped suddenly and turned to face Marinette, the expression on her face suggested that she was getting impatient, but also that she knew something.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, let me make this absolutely clear." Edna said as if she were making a big speech. "I made you my apprentice, and now that I have you I am not letting you go, you are going to learn from me and under my guidance you shall become great. And I will not take 'no' for an answer."

Marinette suddenly had the feeling that she was an actual ladybug and that Edna was a spider looking at her trapped in her web.

"Now." Edna suddenly said, turning and continuing walking, Marinette following. "I will allow you to come in whenever you're able, but I will expect a certain number of hours to be done by the end of each week, that should take care of the problem of you 'inconsistent afterschool activities'."

Marinette was struggling to keep up with Edna, for someone so short she was surprisingly quick. They eventually reached a room and Edna used a card to get inside, inside the room was a spacious designing studio, complete with sewing supplies, mannequins of different types and sizes, a large desk with a computer chair, and one of the walls was completely taken up by a window that overlooked Paris, just to name a few things.

"This," Edna said with a grin. "Shall be yours."

Marinette was sure she hadn't heard that right.

"I'm sorry. Did you just say that this was mine?" She checked.

"Of course I did, darling. Were you expecting some sort of cramped work space?"

"No. But isn't even what I'd expect if I was a full fashion designer."

"It is the duty of an artist to defy expectations."

Edna went over to a chaise and sat down, giving instructions for Marinette to do the same.

"Here is how it shall work. When I go to expositions, shows, interviews and over events you shall come with me to help organise and learn how things are in the fashion industry. When that is not happening you shall come here to work on designing and creating a range of clothing, and I expect evidence of each step you take in creating them, sometimes I shall give you a theme or specifications for your designs and others I will give you a design that I will expect you to follow down to the last detail while also adding your own flair, something that will make it stand out from other clothing of the same design but made by other people. Do you understand?"

Marinette nodded.

"With words."

"I understand, Madam Mode."

"Good. Now, I shall leave you to personalise your studio more." Edna hopped to her feet and handed Marinette the card to enter the room and an ID card to allow her entrance into the mansion. "When you come tomorrow I expect you to be in your own clothes rather that those stuffy brand ones and to bring your own designs from home, I want a better look at them." Just before Edna left out the door she turned back. "And, darling. Please leave your apprenticeship with me a secret for now, I'd like to wait until a certain show next week."

"Why?" Marinette was curious.

"My own reasons." Edna then left. "Don't stay too long!" She called back before the door shut behind her.

Marinette was left in the studio, now apparently hers, still a bit confused.

"Tiki."

The Kwami flew out of her bag.

"What just happened?"

"You're now officially the apprentice of one of your favourite fashion designers." Tiki answered.

Marinette sighed and laid down on the chaise to try a process everything.

* * *

"Come on. Tell me." Alya told Marinette as they walked out of the school building.

Marinette had told Alya that she had gotten an apprenticeship but not with who, and it was driving Alya crazy trying to find out who.

"I keep telling you Alya, I was told not to tell." Marinette said.

"Hey, ladies. What you talking about?" Nino asked as he and Adrien came over.

"Marinette has an apprenticeship but won't tell me who with." Alya complained.

"When did you apply for an apprenticeship?" Nino asked, not remembering Marinette saying anything about applying for one.

"I can't remember." Marinette gave her best answer.

"Well, congratulations anyway, Marinette." Adrien told her.

"Well, I…ah, thanks." Marinette's brain started short circuiting like usual.

"Hello? Don't you want to know who the apprenticeship is with? Why it's a secret?" Ayla asked the boys.

"Why won't you tell?" Nino asked Marinette.

"My boss said not to tell, she wants to wait for something happening in a week before anyone finds out."

"Why?"

"Her own reasons, apparently."

"Well, I think we can wait a week." Adrien placated.

Alya gave a humph.

* * *

(1 week later)

Marinette sat at her desk in the studio given to her by Edna, she was working out the lengths of everything for the design she had made herself. For her first project Edna had given her an obscure sounding book and told her to make five separate designs based on the characters in the book, it wasn't that hard as the book had been sent in renaissance Venice and the author did describe some of what the characters wore, giving her a good idea for what to do with her designs, but Marinette still found it slightly difficult to make her designs look like natural clothing rather than just costumes for a play, Edna had already berated the first designs she made for being such.

Marinette had just finished her last measurement when Edna walked through her door.

"Get your coat, darling, it's time for the show." Edna told her.

Marinette stood up and grabbed her coat and bag, quickly following Edna out the door. A limo was waiting for them out front and they climbed inside.

"Put up your hair, darling, it'll make you look more professional." Edna instructed her.

Marinette undid her pigtails and put her hair up in a bun, using a mirror in the limo to make sure she didn't have any hair out of place.

"Now, when we get there the mayor and his daughter, the spoiled brat, will be there. She is no doubt going to bother you, and I want you to ignore her, show that you are too professional to bother with that bottled blond."

Marinette could barely stop grinning at hearing Edna insult Chloe. "I understand, Madam Mode."

When they arrived Edna instructed Marinette to push the rack containing her latest clothing line and follow her. They walked into the building until they reached the backstage area containing models and a few other fashion designers, including Gabriel Agreste.

"Edna, I was beginning to think you weren't coming." Gabriel said to Edna, his voice devoid of emotion like usual.

"Gabriel." Edna said in a forced happy voice. "You know I could never miss a chance to show you up." She continued in the same tone of voice.

An assistant came and took the rack of clothes away from Marinette to give to Edna's chosen models. Gabriel raised an eyebrow once he saw Marinette now that she was no longer hidden by the rack of clothes, Edna spotted this and gave a quick triumphant grin before going back to the forced kindness.

"Have you met Miss Dupain-Cheng, Gabriel?" Edna asked, bringing Marinette forward. "If I'm not mistaken she won one of your competitions."

"Yes, I am familiar with her as one of my son's classmates." Gabriel said.

"I must say, Gabriel. You seem to be getting slow in your age, I would've have expected you to have already picked up Miss Dupain-Cheng for her talents before I could even set my eyes on her."

Gabriel chose to remain silent.

"Marinette?"

Marinette and Edna turned to see Adrien coming towards them.

"A-A-Adrien here. Adrien's here. I mean, Adrien, you're here?" Marinette stumbled over her words, flushing red with embarrassment at doing it in front of Gabriel and Edna.

Adrien looked at Edna and his eyes widened when he recognised her, he seemed to put two and two together when he looked back at Marinette.

"So, is Madam Mode your mysterious employer?" He asked.

Marinette bit her tongue to stop herself from talking for fear of embarrassing herself with her usual antics around Adrien, she instead nodded.

Unseen by anyone, Edna gave a knowing smile.

"Ah, young Adrien Agreste." Edna said. "I suppose your modelling your father's clothes?"

"I am, Madam Mode." Adrien replied politely.

"And I see you are familiar with Miss Dupain-Cheng. Why don't you go and show her the life of a model? I'm sure it will be great experience. If that's alright with you, Gabriel?"

Gabriel frowned but didn't reject the offer.

"As long as Miss Dupain-Cheng behaves herself." He said.

"Great." Adrien said happily. "Come on, Marinette."

Adrien took Mainette by the wrist and guided her through the many people walking around to where he was stationed. Marinette herself was currently short circuiting at getting to spend time with Adrien.

"I can't believe you're working for Edna Mode, I've heard that thousands of people tried to apply to work for her and were rejected." Adrien said.

"And I didn't even apply." Marinette laughed, Adrien's presence stopping her brain from catching up with her mouth.

"You didn't? Then how'd you end up working for her?"

"I-ah…I." Marinette began stuttering. "Must've forgotten. That I applied."

Adrien just smiled good-naturedly.

"Well, I'm glad you're working for someone so famous anyway. From what I've seen of your designs you really deserve it."

A look inside Marinette's mind would've have shown it going into meltdown.

Marinette didn't have much of a chance to speak after that as an assistant came over and dragged him to the dressing rooms, Marinette waited where she was until Adrien came back out dressed in his clothes for the fashion show. Marinette's mind very nearly went into meltdown again.

"Adrikins!" Marinette instantly sobered at what could contend for the most annoying voice in the universe.

Chloe quickly ran over to Adrien and latched onto his arm. Adrien forced a fixed smile on his face.

"You look so hansom." Chloe said.

"Thanks Chloe." Adrien said, forcing politeness.

Chloe then noticed Marinette.

"What are you doing here?" Chloe demanded. "This is an exclusive event, and there's no way someone dirt poor like you could get something like a backstage pass. I bet you snuck in."

"Chloe." Adrien halted her tirade. "Marinette's here on an apprenticeship."

Chloe sneered. "Who would stoop so low as to take on someone like her."

Marinette focused on her breathing, determined not to say anything that could get her in trouble. Edna had told her to not respond to Chloe and that's what she was going to do.

As if sensing her apprentice in trouble Edna came over to them.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, I trust you are getting along well with Mr Agreste." Edna said.

"Yes, Madam Mode." Marinette answered.

It took all of Marinette and Adrien's self-control not to burst out laughing at Chloe's expression when she recognised Edna. But Chloe didn't seem to put two and two together at Marinette having an apprenticeship and Edna calling her by name.

"Come, the show is about to start." Edna told Marinette.

Marinette followed Edna out of sight.

It was then that Chloe worked out who Marinette was working for.

"WHAT!" The entire building heard the ear-splitting shriek.

* * *

When Marinette got to school the next day she was confronted by Alya, who was looking like a predator ready to pounce on her prey, and that prey was Marinette.

"It's been a week. Tell me!" Alya demanded, desperate to know who Marinette's mysterious employer was.

Marinette realised that Alya must not have seen the magazine article about yesterday's show, which announced her as Edna's apprentice.

Rather than telling her, Marinette directed Alya to use her phone to connect to the article online and told her to read. Marinette watched as Alya's face grew from excited, to shocked, to disbelieving.

"No way." Alya said, still looking at her phone, she then faced Marinette. "No way!" she said louder.

Marinette nodded with a smile, confirming that it was true.

"Oh my god!" Alya screamed, hugging Marinette dramatically and spinning her around. "You're amazing, girl! You're really doing it!"

Alya's excitement was contagious and soon Marinette was laughing right alongside her. When they calmed down Alya started asking her questions.

"Why the wait?" she asked.

"I don't really know. Maybe to make sure that I was staying?" Marinette said. Then something occurred to her. "But, this is going to sound crazy, I think Madam Mode wanted to rub it in Gabriel Agreste's face."

"Really? Adrien's dad?"

"Well, Madam Mode has shown that she has a…certain dislike for him. And when we met at the showcase, the way she introduced me wasn't very subtle."

"Really? What'd she say?"

"She said something along the lines of, him being old and slow for not offering me a job when he had the chance."

"Wow. And she got away with saying that?"

"Well, she did phrase it differently, and she kept a civil tone."

"Maybe we should try that with Chloe, see if she's smart enough to spot the insult."

Marinette laughed.

The two friends walked into school and towards their classroom.

"So, do you think anyone else has seen the article?" Marinette asked as they stepped into the classroom.

Marinette quickly got her answer as her classmates crowded around her, asking about her apprenticeship with Edna Mode.

"I'm thinking, yes." Alya said jokingly.

It took a while for the class to settle down, only returning to their seats when the teacher came in and threatened them with detention if they didn't go to their seats.

"You're going to get mobbed again as soon as it hits lunch. You know that, right?" Alya informed Marinette.

"I'm sure I'll be fine." Marinette said unsurely.

When the bell rang Marinette was once again mobbed by her classmates asking questions once she got outside, as well as other students at the school.

"How'd you get the job?"

"What is it like working for her?"

"Do you think I could meet her?"

Marinette wasn't given any chance to answer the many questions she was being asked and was quickly feeling overwhelmed.

"I…uh…I." Marinette stuttered weakly.

Marinette suddenly felt a hand wrap around her wrist and yank her out of the crowd, once she was out she saw that the owner of the hand was Adrien. Marinette went bright red as Adrien continued to pull her along and out of sight of the crowd of students.

"Sorry, it looked like you could've used a hand." Adrien said.

"Yeah, I…your hand." Marinette said dreamily.

Adrien misinterpreted her words, since he had yet to let go of her wrist yet.

"Oh, sorry." He apologised, letting go of her wrist.

Marinette wanted to whine at the loss of contact as she fell back to earth from her dream state but managed to remain silent.

"I know how it can feel to be mobbed like that." Adrien said. "Hopefully the attention should die down soon."

"I…yeah…thanks." Marinette stumbled with her words.

"See you asked lunch." Adrien said as he walked off.

"Bye." Marinette said after a pause.

"Hey!" A painfully familiar voice called out.

"What do you want, Chloe?" Marinette moaned as she turned to face the girl in question.

"I don't know how you got it into that silly head of yours, but just because you're working under a well-known fashion designer doesn't mean you're suddenly any better than the poor trash you've always been. And it certainly doesn't mean that Adrien's any more likely to notice you." Chloe told Marinette.

Marinette crossed her arms with an unimpressed look on her face.

"Wow, your self-esteem must be really low for you to have try and lower mine to make yourself feel better." She said, walking away to find Alya.

"Way to go, Marinette." Tiki cheered quietly from Marinette's purse.

Marinette smiled down at her Kwami.

* * *

 **(A few months later.)**

Marinette was working hard on her latest project, a three-piece suit that could withstand the same sort of treatment of an army uniform while still looking stylish and be easy cleaning. In the past few weeks Marinette had been getting strange requests like this from Edna, she had been taught about and provided with all sorts of special and heavy duty materials and then ordered to make clothes out of them that the materials wouldn't usually be used for, like a set of scarfs that could stretch to over twenty times their original length without breaking and still go back to their original size and shape, or a set of clothes that became a wingsuit, and the aforementioned three-piece suit.

"I know Madam Mode is a bit unconventional. But I didn't expect she's be making this sort of stuff." Marinette said to Tiki as she struggled to get her needle through the tough fabric.

"It's like you're creating clothes for spies." Tiki laughed.

Marinette laughed along with her. "That's an idea, that I'm creating a suit for the next 007."

Marinette managed the last few stiches.

"And, done!" She said with satisfaction.

Marinette placed the suit on a male mannequin and took a step back to admire it.

"It looks slightly bulkier than a normal suit, but other than that it's fit for any formal event." Marinette said proudly.

Tiki looked at the suit, in her opinion she couldn't see the extra bulk that Marinette was talking about, but she supposed that she didn't have the keen eye of a designer despite her many years.

"It looks amazing, Marinette." Tiki told her.

There was the sound of the studio door opening and Tiki had just enough time to hide before Edna came in.

"Marinette, darling, I see you've finished." Edna said happily.

After a while of Marinette working for her Edna had begun to call her by her first name, and while she had told Marinette that she could do the same for her Marinette preferred to call Edna by her last name out of politeness.

"Yes, Madam Mode. It's a bit bulky in places, but it's the best I could do." Marinette said.

"Nonsense, darling. You've done an amazing job." Edna praised.

Edna took out her phone and dialled a number. "Malcom, get down her." She ordered into the phone before hanging up.

Not even a minute later there was a knock on the door and Marinette opened it to reveal one of Edna's assistants.

"Take this suit and take it down to the course for testing." Edna told the man.

The man went over to the suit and made quick work of stripping it from the mannequin, he then left with the suit in hand.

"Take the rest of the day off, darling." Edna told Marinette. "And I want you back tomorrow."

Edna then left.

"I wonder what she wants, tomorrow's usually one of my days off." Marinette said.

Marinette cleared up her workspace before heading home.

...

The next day Marinette just managed to just catch the bus she usual took that went by Edna's mansion in time, she had overslept due to yet another Akuma attack. By some miracle, the constant Akuma attacks had not interfered with Marinette's work for Edna, the lax rules around what time Marinette was supposed to arrive and leave by didn't put too much strain on being Ladybug, though there had been even less time to sleep since she could catch up on it as often during the day. But, sometimes, Marinette would make up in her studio not realising that she had fallen asleep, usually after one of those nights spent as Ladybug instead of sleeping, it kept happening and Marinette beginning to suspect she was being drugged so she got enough sleep.

When Marinette arrived she was immediately greeted by Edna, which was unusual since she usually went straight to her studio.

"Good morning, Madam Mode." Marinette greeted the designer.

"Marinette, darling, your suit worked perfectly." Edna said.

"Thank you."

"I have decided that you have earned the next step in your training."

"Next step?"

"Come."

Marinette followed Edna through some hallways until they seemingly reached a dead end. Edna then opened up a section of the wall to reveal a key pad and two scanners, she typed in some numbers into the key pad, then pressed her hand to the first scanner, then went to a smaller one that scanned her eyes, then a small microphone popped out.

"Edna Mode." She spoke into it.

Marinette jumped in surprise as a giant laser gun suddenly popped out of the ceiling and pointed at her, ready to fire.

"And guest." Edna added into the speaker.

The laser gun went back into the ceiling as Marinette clutched her chest to try and calm down her beating heart.

The wall opened up to reveal a set of stairs that Edna went down, she then came back up when she noticed Marinette wasn't following.

"Come." She said, going back down.

Marinette followed, the wall closing behind her.

The short flight of stairs led to a large and spacious room, Marinette gaped in wonder as she took it all in, there were desks with designs of them, shelves filled with material and huge machines that she didn't recognise. Looking closer at the designs she recognised what they were.

"You really do make costumes for heroes!" Marinette exclaimed, realising the rumour was true.

"Yes." Edna admitted. "That is why I took you on as my apprentice."

"What?"

"At first I was unsure, swinging around Paris in skin tight red and black polka-dots isn't exactly fashionable, but I saw your designs and you seem to make it work anyway."

Marinette felt as if her blood had become ice.

"I don't know what you mean." Marinette said in a tone she hoped was convincing.

"Come now, darling, there is no need to lie to me. I have always known you are Ladybug. Why do you think I was so lax with your hours?"

"I…but I." Marinette struggled to make an excuse, but Edna fixed her with a look that told her that it was useless. "How?" She eventually settled on.

"Simple. Whatever you use to stop people from seeing beyond your mask may work for everyone else, but it cannot fool these eyes."

"So, what now?"

"As I said before, the next step in your training. You shall learn how to create for gods."

"You mean you want me to make supersuits?"

"Of course, darling. You've shown that you have the skill with the last few projects I gave you."

"I did wonder."

"Now, yet me show you what you'll be working with."

Edna showed Marinette the various machines around the high-tech studio, including one that synthesised materials to specified needs, one that cut through incredibly tough material that even metal cutters would break trying to cut, one that joined the material together with no seems, etc. She also showed off the special mannequins that could imitate other heroes' powers and were so durable that even direct missile blasts didn't damage them.

"So, what do you want me to do first?" Marinette asked.

"You could start by redesigning your Ladybug suit." Edna said.

"What? Why?" Marinette asked, slighting affronted.

"While you may only just pull off the simplistic look now, you won't forever. You are a growing woman, your body will change and your suit needs to change with it, you're developing assets that your current suit will only draw attention to."

Edna pointed at Marinette's chest, making it clear as to what she meant by 'assets'.

Marinette covered her chest at the remark. She thought about her suit and had to admit that, looking back, she did feel a bit self-conscious when wearing it the first time around. Still, she couldn't really do anything.

"A bit of a problem with that. My suit isn't something I just pull out of my wardrobe." Marinette said.

"Let me guess, it's magical." Edna deadpanned.

Marinette nodded.

"I don't like magical suits, you never get any direct choice." Edna complained. "Well, maybe you can make something to go over it instead, a jacket can go a long way to changing a look, and Ladybug doesn't seem to have any pockets like Chat Noir.

"I suppose. Marinette said. "By the way, just out of curiosity, do you know the identity of Chat Noir?"

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Either way, I honour the secret identities of all heroes. I wouldn't have designed most supersuits if I wasn't trusted to keep a hero's identity secret.

"That's good to know."

"Now, let's work on what we should add to your suit."

Edna and Marinette sat down opposite each other on some seats and began brainstorming ideas, Marinette quickly getting shot down when she dared to mention the addition of a cape.

* * *

Marinette eventually settled on a jacket for her addition to her Ladybug costume, after she decided it then took her over a week and dozens of different designs before she settled on the design she wanted. It then took Marinette over a month and many trial and error attempts with the material and machines she used before she finally finished.

"Not bad, darling." Edna complimented as they both looked at the finished product on the special mannequin.

The jacket was hooded and ended tightly at the waist, it still carried the Ladybug red and black polka-dots but also had solid black areas along the back, sides and underneath the arms. The jacket also had a completely different design more suited to Marinette on the inside so that it could be turned inside out and worn in civilian form as well. There were also hidden speakers in the hood and small but powerful radio in the sleeve connected to them so that Marinette could listen for news of Akuma attacks. And there was a small container built into one of the pockets to store cookies for Tiki, not that Edna knew what it was for, but the designer didn't seem to question it.

"Let's put it to the test." Edna said gleefully.

The mannequin was on a track, which let it into a part of the room separated by glass.

"Let's see." Edna picked up the notes Marinette had made about her jacket. "Bullet proof for the villains with projectiles."

Guns dropped down from the ceiling and shot at the jacket for a few seconds before retracting, the jacket was unharmed.

"Fire and chemical resistant for the villains with fire or corrosion powers."

The jacket was blasted with fire and then doused with chemicals and came out fine despite being wet from the chemicals.

"Water proof for the weather."

Water poured from the ceiling, washing away the chemicals but leaving the inside of the jacket completely dry.

"And the standard resistance to fighting."

The mannequin was tossed about the closed off room and stabbed with sharp objects, it still came out fine.

"And also machine washable."

The mannequin was set back on the track and moved into the wall where an automated washing machine was to clean up the jacket. The clean jacket and mannequin soon emerged from the wall.

"Now, the final test. How it looks on you." Edna said eagerly.

Marinette took the jacket and put it to the side so it would disappear during her transformation.

"Madam Mode, could you…" She trailed off, not wanting to sound rude.

"Oh, privacy. Of course, of course." Edna said, leaving the room.

"Ready, Tiki?" Marinette asked her Kwami.

"Ready." Tiki said.

"Tiki, spots on!"

Tiki was sucked into her earrings and Marinette felt the transformation wash over her.

Ladybug took the jacket and began pulling it on as Edna came back into the room.

"Marvellous." Edna said as Ladybug zipped up the jacket and spread her arms out wide to show it off.

Ladybug was led to a mirror to view herself. The jacket went well with the costume and felt comfortable. And Ladybug did have to admit that it made her feel less exposed. Ladybug pulled up the hood, hiding away her hair and earrings.

"Hopefully the hood will make it harder for anyone to grab my earrings." She commented.

"It's a pity you can't just hide them in your pocket." Edna said. "It'd make them harder to grab and less likely to lose part of your ears if they manage to rip them out."

Ladybug brought her hands up to her ears in horror at the prospect of a villain damaging her ears to get her earrings.

Ladybug turned on her radio and the sound filtered through the speakers right next to her ears, the sound was loud enough to hear but not so loud that others would hear it unless they were close. The radio was the regular news until it was interrupted.

"This just in, a new Akuma is attacking, citizens are urge to remain in their homes until Ladybug and Chat Noir can deal with the problem.

"There's an Akuma attack." Ladybug told Edna.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go save Paris." Edna said.

Ladybug nodded and took off to find and deal with the Akuma.

...

Ladybug arrived to see Chat Noir fighting with the latest Akuma, she immediately threw her yoyo at the villain, knocking them off their feet.

"Excellent timing as always, M'Lady." Chat said to Ladybug.

Chat then spotted her jacket.

"What, a girl can't change her look?" Ladybug asked smugly when she noticed Chat's look.

Ladybug then went to fight the Akuma before Chat could reply.

* * *

The next day everyone at school was talking about Ladybug's new addition to her costume. As she walked to her class Marinette heard some of what people had to say.

"Do you think she made it herself?" Rose asked Juleka.

"I'm already getting one specially made for me." Chloe bragged.

"She just did it to draw more attention to herself." Lila grumbled.

"I bet that her 'fanboys' are already bemoaning the loss of seeing her boobs and hips in the skin-tight suit." A girl commented to her friend.

Marinette winced when she heard what the last girl was saying, she was lucky enough to not yet encounter 'that' sort of fan, but she knew they existed. It made her really love her new jacket even more.

Once Marinette reached her classroom and sat down, she took out her design book since, for once, she still had time until the bell. She opened it to a fresh page but when she bent over to her bag the pages flipped back to her previous design, which happened to be some of her designs for her jacket. And Alya saw them when she sat down next to Marinette.

"Wow, when did you draw these?" She asked, snatching up the book from the desk.

"I…uh. Drew them last night when I saw Ladybug during the Akuma attack." Marinette quickly made her excuse.

"You work quickly. Hey, you should make these! I'm sure loads of people would buy them." Ayla said.

"I don't know, it'd seem like stealing." Marinette lied.

Alya quickly produced her phone and showed off a picture of Ladybug in her jacket.

"These look similar but aren't exact, so it isn't technically stealing. Plus, I'm sure Ladybug wouldn't mind anyway." She said.

Mariette could see that Alya wasn't going to give up.

"Fine. How about I just make you one." She compromised.

"Deal." Alya said. "I want that one." She pointed to one of the designs.

"Okay. But it's just this once."

It wasn't just once. After Marinette made Alya a jacket, she paraded it around like it was the fanciest of clothes, which caused people to ask where she got it, so Alya pointed to Marinette as the maker, which caused everyone to ask Marinette to make them a jacket as well. Marinette tried to say no, but under the pressure she eventually caved, the look on Alya's face showed that she knew that this was going to happen from the very start.

With the help of Nathanael, who had experience with people asking him for commissions, albeit he did it anonymously online, Marinette set up a way to do the jackets. She set up commission slots so that she wouldn't get overwhelmed by so many requests, she also limited it to only her class to begin with, she worked out how long it would take her to do each jacket and how much material, and also worked out how much to charge for the jackets.

Edna also supported Marinette's making of the jackets, telling her that it was preparing her for her future as a fashion designer.

* * *

Marinette was currently in her studio at Edna's mansion working on some clothing, just because she was learning how to make supersuits didn't mean she didn't do regular clothes as well. She was interrupted by Edna coming in.

"Darling, I have a special task for you." Edna told her, motioning for someone outside of the room to come in.

A young woman with short black hair and her eyes covered by a pair of goggles that disguised her identity entered, the rest of her clothes were normal making the goggles look out of place.

"How you doin', I'm the Imp." The woman introduced herself in an accent that Marinette could only just identify as coming from England.

"Are you a hero?" Marinette asked, suspicious at how the woman introduced herself.

"Yeah. Due to…circumstances, I've been out of the picture for a while. But I'm back and ready to kick butt!"

"Miss Imp here needs a new costume, not only has she outgrown her last one, but it is very out of fashion." Edna said.

"Give me a break, I was young at the time." The Imp argued.

"I suppose we all make mistakes in our youth. Anyway, I have decided that it is time you to make another suit, darling." Edna told Marinette.

"You want me to design her costume?" Marinette asked in shock.

"Yep, I'm the one that got the unlucky draw." The Imp said in a joking tone. "Owe!" She then exclaimed as she was wacked over the head by Edna despite the height difference.

"Her entire team has returned and I am doing the suits for the rest of them, but I decided to give the designing of the Imp's costume to you." Edna explained, she then left.

The two stood awkward for a minute before Marinette picked up her design book, reserved for hero designs after the incident with Alya spotting the jacket designs, and sat down, inviting the Imp to sit down opposite her.

"So, what was your original costume? Maybe we can work off that." Marinette suggested.

The Imp reached into the bag she had with her and produced a small scrap book, she gave it to Marinette who looked through it. The scrap book was filled with various newspaper clippings written in English that displayed a group of young heroes, they looked as if they were younger than Marinette when she first started out. Some of the images displayed the heroes fighting monsters.

"So, this is you and your team?" Marinette asked.

"Yep. That's me there." The Imp said, pointing to one of the pictures.

The Imp in the picture wore dark blue shorts and t-shirt separate by a chain belt, elbow and knee pads, clunky looking metal boots, a brown satchel, a black spaded tail coming out from behind her, her hair up in high pigtails, and a pair of goggles over her eyes. Marinette could see what Edna meant, it didn't look like much of a hero costume.

"So, what did your team do?" Marinette asked as she looked through the scrap book.

"Well, the basic gist is that this dimensional portal, or whatever, opened up and these monsters began emerging, me and my friends were right by the portal when it opened up that somehow gave us powers, something about us absorbing the other dimension's energies when it opened. Anyway, since we had these powers we decided to put them to good use while battling these monsters. The portal was eventually closed and with nothing to fight we just sort of went into retirement." The Imp explained.

"Why are you coming back now then?"

"Classified." The Imp said with a smirk.

Marinette chose to focus on the new costume instead of trying to delve deeper.

"So, it this tail fake or real?" She pointed to the spaded tail in the picture.

"Real, as well as some unseen additions." The Imp said.

The Imp suddenly grew her tail, as well as a pair of horns for her head and a small pair of wings on her back.

"The wings are useless and I don't really like the horns, so I just kept the tail on view."

The wings, tail and horns disappeared.

"Okay. What about your powers?" Marinette asked.

"I can control my weight and density. It basically means that I can make myself lighter than air to float or become so heavy that nothing can lift me from the ground, and I can literally survive and explosion if I have the time to make myself dense enough. Which is good since my main weapons are explosives." The Imp answered with a shrug.

"Okay. So we'll need something that can survive explosions and high impact, and can hold your explosives since you could easily become separated from that satchel of yours." Marinette wrote the information down. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. I wear rocket boots, but you don't need to worry about building those. There's a member of my team who made my last pair."

"You wear rocket boots?" Marinette said in awe.

"Yeah. I can float with my powers but not fly, so the boots propel me around."

"Makes sense. So, leave out she shoes since they're already being taken care of." Marinette jotted down the note. "Right, onto the costume. Anything you want to leave in?"

The Imp thought about it. "Nah. Go wild."

Marinette and the Imp spent the next few hours coming up with different designs for the new costume, they also came up with a superhero symbol for the Imp. In the end they came up with a black jumpsuit that would tuck into the Imp's boots, a dark blue coat with many big pockets to hold the explosives that went down to just above the knee, a black belt across the chest, black fingerless gloves, a black hat and a different style of goggles to the ones the Imp currently wore. The symbol was of horns, wings and a tail, the horns were printed on the hat while the wings were printed on the back of her coat and her tail came out of the coat.

"Cool." The Imp commented when she saw the finished design of what she'd look like.

After taking the Imp's measurements they were all done. Marinette walked the Imp to the door where she saw the other members of the team speaking to Edna, they all wore normal clothes with the exception of what they wore to hide their identities, like masks or scarfs. They met up with the Imp then all left together.

"Let me see." Edna motioned to the design pad.

Marinette showed off the final design for the Imp.

"Hmm. The coat is a little long but I suppose it is necessary, and the tail shall keep it down. Well, what are you waiting for? Start your work." Edna told her.

Marinette sighed but went back to her studio to start on the costume.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Marinette asked the Imp as the hero stood in front of the mirror admiring her new look.

"I look awesome." The Imp said happily.

The Imp floated into the air with happiness.

She then dropped to the ground and left to find the other members of her team who were also receiving their suits from Edna.

"Tada!" The Imp showed her costume off as she entered the room with her team mates in.

She was met with positive feedback.

"Looks good." Said a man.

"Certainly makes you look older." Remarked a woman.

"Nice work." Another woman complimented Marinette.

"Thanks." Marinette said bashfully.

Each of the members of the superhero group were dressed in their new costumes, each looked different but fitting to the hero.

The heroes then filed out into the courtyard where a truck was waiting for them, once they were all inside they waved goodbye as the door shut behind them.

* * *

 **(10 years later)**

Ten years had passed since Marinette had become the apprentice of Edna Mode, and a lot of things had changed. After another year or two Hawkmoth had been defeated and his Miraculous reclaimed, during that time the other Miraculous were given out to help with the fight against Hawkmoth, among them had been Alya and Nino. During that time, they had revealed their identities to one another and Marinette received the shock of her life when she found out that Adrien, her biggest crush, was Chat Noir, her biggest flirt. After Hawkmoth's defeat the Miraculous were returned to the Guardian, which was a title inherited by Nino after Master Fu finally admitted he may be getting too old, they lay dormant but were ready to be reclaimed if they were needed again.

After giving up being Ladybug and finishing off her education Marinette became a full time employee of Edna, her designs featuring in fashion shows and quite a few superheroes around the world dressed in suits she designed. Marinette also started a stable relationship with Adrien, who had rebelled from Gabriel's planned vision for him to become a school teacher much to the shock of all but those who really knew him, they dated for a few years until Adrien eventually proposed, the wedding was a grand affair with Marinette's parents making the cake and Edna and Gabriel battling over who got to design the suits, bridesmaids dresses and wedding dress.

Marinette and Adrien lived together in a nice, but homely, house, their jobs sometimes left them not seeing each other for long but they always made sure to make time, especially Marinette who didn't want to become distanced like Gabriel did with Adrien. Edna had also announced that she may be retiring soon, stating that she was growing bored and it was affecting her creativity, and everyone was pretty sure that Marinette would be the one to take over the company when she did, and unknown to anyone else Edna's retirement would also mean that she would be taking over as top designer for supersuits even if she didn't take over the entire company. Marinette had yet to tell Adrien about that aspect of her life, though she was planning on telling him once Edna retired.

Marinette was very happy with her life, but she knew that with so many superheroes and supervillains in the world, that she might not be done with being a hero herself just yet.

* * *

 **Sorry that the ending is sort of rushed, but this was getting to be much longer than I expected. Just to clarify, the Imp and her team and the premise behind them isn't a reference to anything, they were just made up by me to be a random group of heroes that could exist in the Miraculous universe since Tomas Astruc has said that there are more heroes that exist in it that just haven't been seen.**


End file.
